Vestas receives 48 MW order for first V117 wind turbines in Italy

The contracts for the two wind power plants in Basilicata include supply, installation and commissioning of six V117-3.0 MW and nine V117-3.3 MW wind turbines, respectively. The order also includes a VestasOnline® Business SCADA system as well as a 10-year AOM 5000 service agreement.

The wind turbines are scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of 2014 and to be commissioned before the end of 2014.

The orders have been placed by Asja Ambiente Italia SpA (www.asja.biz) an international holding company that designs, builds and manages renewable power plants.

“We are proud to be the first company to be operating Vestas’ V117-3.0 and V117-3.3 MW turbines in Italy, and we are confident that our new wind investments will be secured through the proven technology of a platform that has been installed all over the world,” states Alessandro Casale, CEO of Asja, “We look forward to the completion of the wind power plants, whose renewable energy capacity adds up to the more than 170 MW already installed and fully operational worldwide.”

“We are glad to announce the signature of these two new contracts with Asja, only a few weeks after renewing a 56 MW service contract for the next ten years,” comments Rainer Karan, General Manager, Vestas Italia, who continues, “our long-lasting partnership dates back to 2003 when Asja first installed a wind power plant in Sicily and we are glad to offer our new 3 MW platform variants for Asja’s new wind power plants.”

The two wind power plants will have an estimated annual production of over 140,000 MWh per year, which will save the environment from almost 57,000 tons of CO2 emissions on an annual basis. Furthermore, they will provide enough electricity to cover the residential electricity consumption of more than 120,000 people in Italy.

Every single day, Vestas wind turbines deliver clean energy that supports the global fight against climate change. Wind power from Vestas’ more than 51,000 wind turbines currently reduces carbon emissions by over 60 million tons of CO2 every year, while at the same time building energy security and independence.

Vestas has delivered wind energy in 73 countries, providing jobs for around 16,000 passionate people at our service and project sites, research facilities, factories and offices all over the world. With 52 per cent more megawatts installed than our closest competitor and more than 60 GW of cumulative installed capacity worldwide, Vestas is the world leader in wind energy

Vestas has been operating in the Italian market since 1998 through the company Vestas Italia, part of Vestas Mediterranean handing all sales operations and maintenance activities in Italy. The Italian sales unit is also responsible for the business development activities in Switzerland, the Balkans, Libya, Egypt and Jordan.

Vestas Italia’s headquarters and main sales office are located in Rome. The company also has an operations office in Taranto, a customer service centre in San Giorgio, as well as service and logistics facilities spread all over the country and on the main islands. As of 31 December 2013, Vestas has installed 3,315 MW of wind capacity in the country.

Vestas confirms signing and completion of its new five-year revolving credit facility at a total amount of EUR 1bn.

With reference to company announcement No. 3/2014 of 3 February 2014, Vestas hereby confirms signing and completion of its new five-year revolving credit facility on 31 March 2014 at a total amount of EUR 1bn. The facility has been successfully increased from the originally agreed total of EUR 850m and is now arranged by a group of six banks comprising of Nordea, DNB, HSBC, SEB, Société Générale and UniCredit.

Key commercial terms of the facility
Vestas confirms that the credit facility has been raised on attractive terms that reflect the improved credit profile of Vestas and will provide a stable, long-term financing platform that adequately supports Vestas’ objective of profitable growth.

Key commercial terms attached to the facility include, inter alia:

• A total credit facility amount of EUR 1bn.
• A maturity of five years from the date of signing of the facility documentation.
• The facility provides for both cash drawings, with a sub-limit of EUR 500m, and issuance of project-related guarantees.
• The new facility is for general corporate purposes.
• The new facility is unsecured.

Rothschild acted as financial adviser to the company in relation to the refinancing and Nordea acted as coordinating bank.

Vestas is confident that the new credit facility will form a stable foundation for its strategy of profitable growth. Going forward, Vestas will continue to assess its debt financing requirements and options across all non-public and public debt markets.